By chance, does anyone here recommend a decent body shop repair for accidents? Looking for a friend (not a Lucid), preferably close to the Daytona Beach/Tampa/Orlando area in Florida.
Florida - Recommended Body Shop for Collision Repair
- Thread starter thecodingart
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Team Geezer
Member
These are all in the Orlando area.
Ultimate Auto They have done some custom paint work on one of my cars. They tend to work on high end stuff and all cars are kept inside. Not on some large lot in in an industrial area. Expensive!!
National Import Services They did a great repair job on a Porsche Cayman for me. In kind of a rough area of town, but the do great work.
Brennan Bodyworks Certified repairs on Porsche, Audi, Tesla .... . They come highly recommended
Ultimate Auto They have done some custom paint work on one of my cars. They tend to work on high end stuff and all cars are kept inside. Not on some large lot in in an industrial area. Expensive!!
National Import Services They did a great repair job on a Porsche Cayman for me. In kind of a rough area of town, but the do great work.
Brennan Bodyworks Certified repairs on Porsche, Audi, Tesla .... . They come highly recommended
chipcaldwell
Member
chipcaldwell
Member
Would you recommend the repair shop you used? USAA is steering me towards Windermere in Winter Park.
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You *have* to use a Lucid-approved body shop, from what I understand. Is Windermere Lucid-approved?
chipcaldwell
Member
Thanks for the advice, Borski. I contacted Lucid & they provided the following list of "recommended" (they do not "approve" apparently). Does anyone have experience with any of these? Thanks in advance.
Countach Auto Body
111 San Lorenzo Ave, Coral Gables, FL 33146
(305) 443-1468
Dayas Customer Autos
6650 Kingspointe Pkwy, Orlando, FL 32819
(407) 781-1414
Fantastic Finishes
900 Stinson Way # 1, West Palm Beach, FL 33411
(561) 790-4090
Countach Auto Body
111 San Lorenzo Ave, Coral Gables, FL 33146
(305) 443-1468
Dayas Customer Autos
6650 Kingspointe Pkwy, Orlando, FL 32819
(407) 781-1414
Fantastic Finishes
900 Stinson Way # 1, West Palm Beach, FL 33411
(561) 790-4090
Steveinarizona
Active Member
Out of curiosity I checked these out on the internet. Lots of bad reviews. But, caveat, I have not had occasion to do the same thing elsewhere so maybe those kinds of reviews are endemic to auto collision centers.
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Actually, Lucid goes beyond "recommended" for Lucid body repairs and has an elaborate program for certifying body shops to work on Lucids. Lucid will not even sell certain components to non-certified body shops. This certification process requires that the body shop send personnel to Lucid's facility in California for training by Lucid technicians and that the body shop have or acquire certain specialized equipment. All work done in these certified body shops is overseen by Lucid, to the point of Lucid monitoring every line item of repair invoices.
The three body shops listed are the ones currently certified in Florida, although a fourth is in the process of being certified.
Fantastic Finishes does by far the most work on Lucids in the southeast region, has the most experience working on the cars, and is highly regarded by Lucid's Body Repair Management team. It is a large, sophisticated operation that specializes in working on the ultra-lux and exotic cars that prowl the Palm Beach area. Countach, in the Miami area, is a small shop that has done so little work on Lucids that my call to them got me on the phone with a guy who didn't even know what a Lucid was. He said he'd have someone who knew about Lucids call me back, but no one did. Lucid is already looking to add another certified shop in the Miami area, as they don't feel Countach will be able to take significant repair volume as the Lucid fleet grows in the Miami area.
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My car was delivered with a couple of paint flaws which were noted on my delivery docs. Most notably the hood had to be totally repainted. Although I took delivery in Tysons Corner, VA, I primarily keep the car in south Florida. My car wound up at Fantastic Finishes in West Palm Beach, and I can't say enough about this shop. Lucid came and picked up my car in an enclosed flatbed to the body shop. I got a Polestar from Hertz for a rental while the car was in the shop. A few days after my car was taken to the body shop, I paid an unannounced visit. I was blown away with the facilities. They work on nothing but very high end cars. Rolls, Bentley, Porsche, Aston Martin, Lamborghini, etc. Apparently they no longer work on Tesla since Tesla reduced their hourly payout rate. Since Riviera Beach is the main distribution hub for Lucid East coast, there were a few Lucids there as well. A couple of them had been involved in extensive accidents, ouch!
Sorry to be so long winded, but I highly recommend Fantastic Finishes!!
Sorry to be so long winded, but I highly recommend Fantastic Finishes!!
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My Dream Edition was taken to Fantastic Finishes after a wreck. Although the car was ultimately declared a total loss, my contact person at Fantastic Finishes worked with me and with Lucid every step of the way in coming to a satisfactory resolution with the insurance company.
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Yep. A kid who had just gotten his first car (a Subaru WRX) three weeks earlier turned in front of us. He followed a monster pickup truck into the turn without realizing the truck was blocking his view of oncoming traffic. Both cars were totaled.
I've already replaced the car with an identical Dream Edition. Not only did I love the original, but I was also impressed with how we walked away from the completely undeformed passenger cage without so much as a scratch, bruise, or ache.
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That's right. In fact, I had a bit of a battle with my insurance company about sending the car to Fantastic Finishes, as their labor rates are $155 an hour compared to the $120-130 that the insurance claimed was the prevailing rate in the area. However, the volume body shops that are in most insurance company networks won't make the investments in training and special equipment that are required for work on Lucids, which are low-volume business for them at this point. Thus the shops that handle Lucids tend to be shops that specialize in high-end cars.
While we were still proceeding on the assumption that the car was reparable, I finally told the insurer that I would send the car to a shop in their network, but that it was up to the insurer to see to it that their preferred shop could procure the needed repair parts from Lucid. Once the claim administrator found out that Lucid would not sell the parts to non-certified shops, he relented.
Ultimately it turned out that a stressed structural member (called a horseshoe because of its shape) through which the front axle passes was deformed a bit beyond the allowable tolerance for repair, there was no option but to total the car.
chipcaldwell
Member
I'm having the same problem. USAA told me I could take my car to fantastic finishes but I would have to pay the $14,000 difference between the two estimates. I told them that that wasn't acceptable and that I expected them to identify a quality body shop that had done at least one Lucid and I would take it there and let them haggle. Fortunately they agreed. I live near Jacksonville Florida and told them I would be willing to drive to Atlanta or even farther to assure a quality result but they have yet to identify a body shop with any experience with Lucids.
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That's exactly the tactic I had to use with State Farm. They wanted me to sign a paper acknowledging I would be liable for "excess charges" if the car went to a body shop of my choosing.
I responded with two points:
1. As the accident was deemed 100% the fault of the other driver, any bills not covered by his insurer would remain his personal responsibility -- not mine -- and I would take him to court if necessary.
2. I would agree to take the car to a body shop that was in State Farm's network and leave it up to them to figure out how to procure the parts Lucid would not sell them.
chipcaldwell
Member
Great process. I will attempt to follow the same. I am halfway there. When USAA told me I could receive a check from them then take it to a body shop of my choosing, I pointed out that their website stated that their process was for me to select a body shop and then they would negotiate with the body shop rather than me. At that point USAA agreed & also agreed with me that any body shop they recommend must have repaired at least 1 Lucid. She agreed that was reasonable & provided 2 names. So now I just need to keep USAA in control of the repair negotiation process. Thanks so much.....
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What kind of damage has your car sustained?
chipcaldwell
Member
Both fenders passenger side scraped to the metal, 5 panels. Plus both wheels to be replaced.
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It may be that Lucid would sell those parts to a non-certified body shop. They won't sell any parts relating to the structure of the car, the suspension, the powertrain, or the electricals. However, it's a unibody car, and some of the fenders may double as structural elements. A call to the Jake Rodenroth or someone else on the Body Repair Management team would be able to tell you.
chipcaldwell
Member
Page 2 of my story. So, #1 Dayas Collision in Orlando was purchased by another company & no longer works on Lucid. #2 My USAA rep suggested Windermere Collision in Winter Park. Dropped it off yesterday. Despite not being on the approved Lucid list & not mentioned in this Forum, Windermere actually has a dedicated Lucid rep, Peter, & I saw 5 Lucids on the property so I'm hopeful. #3 Peter told me that USAA hourly rate on my estimate was $95 per hour, but they charge $125 due to more experienced staff. Not sure how this will play out. Stay tuned.
